Friday, April 28, 2000

White vestments

This year Eastertide supersedes the feast of Saint Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort and Saint Peter Chanel normally observed on April 28th as well as honoring Blessed Gianna Beretta Molla, a great intercessor for pregnant mothers and one to pray to stop abortions. Below are the profiles of the first two holy men, and the link to the profile of Blessed Gianna from our Top100 feature:

Though not officially recognized in the United States as a feast day, we nevertheless celebrate the feast of Saint Louis Mary Grignon de Montfort on April 28. It is an official feast day in Canada. This Dominican, following in the footsteps of his founder Saint Dominic became a great writer, preacher and prophet for the end times. His devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Holy Rosary are the substance of his works, including the Total Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with 33 days of special preparation of prayers and fasting before this Consecration which is professed on the feast of the Purification (February 2), the feast of the Annunciation (March 25), St. Louis de Montfort's feastday (April 28), the feast of the Visitation (May 31), the Solemnities of the Assumption (August 15) and the Immaculate Conception (December 8). Other works of this devoted saint are "How to say your Rosary," "True Devotion to Mary,", "God Alone," "Friends of the Cross," "Reign of Jesus through Mary," "The Secret of Mary," and, of course, "Preparation for Total Consecration." These works are available through Montfort Publications, Queen of
All Hearts Confraternity, Bay Shore, NY 11706.

St. Louis de Montfort was a devoted Dominican Tertiary who was an extraordinary preacher of the Rosary and prophecied many things about Mary's role in our times and of the Second Coming in which he predicted Mary would have a special role saying: "In the Second Coming of the Lord, Mary will be made known in a special way by the Holy Spirit so that through her, Jesus may be better known and served...Mary will shine forth higher than ever in these latter days to bring back poor sinners who have strayed from the Family of God." Well before Fatima, he prophecied that Mary's Heart would triumph and of her role as Co-Redemptrix, Advocate and Mediatrix of all graces. Pope John Paul II has called de Montfort "one of the great doctors of Marian Spirituality." This saint, totally devoted to Mary, founded the Congregations of the Missionaries of the Company of Mary (the Montfort Fathers) and the Daughters of Wisdom, an order of nuns devoted to Our Lady and the Holy
Spirit. Born during the reign of Pope Clement X in 1673, St. Louis de Montfort died peacefully in 1716 during the papacy of Pope Clement XI.

Saint Peter Chanel, priest, religious missionary and martyr

Considered the first martyr of Oceania, Saint Peter Chanel was born in Belley, France in 1803 where he was raised as a shepherd boy. While in the fields tending the sheep he heard God's call to shepherd men and became a priest in 1827 where he became a parish priest near Geneva, Switzerland. Nine years later in the year Pope Gregory XVI approved the new Marist Order of Priests - Society of Mary, Peter was assigned to Polynesia as part of the Marists' missionary efforts in Oceania. There he worked tirelessly for Jesus and Mary in spreading the faith. A year later he and a companion sailed to the island of Futana, just west of Tahiti where they began evangelizing and baptizing. When the pagan chief discovered that his own son wanted to be baptized by Peter, he went ballistic and dispatched a band of warriors to massacre the missionary and his companion on April 28, 1841. Shortly after this dastardly deed, the people rebelled against the chief for the saintly priest's murder and the entire population of Futana became Catholic, once again fulfilling Tertian's words, "The blood of marytrs is truly the seed of the Faith." Fr. Peter Chanel was canonized in 1954 by Pope Pius XII as the first Marist martyr.

Saturday, April 29, 2000

White vestments

This year Eastertide supersedes the feast of one of the first great women Doctors of the Church Saint Catherine of Siena. We share her story below:

Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

One of the great Doctors of the Church, Saint Catherine, born in 1347 in Sienna, was blessed with
apparitions of Our Lord when she was only seven years old. Jesus requested of Catherine, "Please give
Me your heart." Catherine willingly did so and in return, He gave her His Most Sacred Heart for God had a
special mission for this special saint He raised up for the Church. At 15 she entered the Third Order of St.
Dominic. Though courted by many young and noble bachelors, Catherine remembered what Christ had
asked her and turned down numerous offers of marriage to become a bride of Christ with the
Dominicans. Catherine did not know what exactly her mission was, but prepared for it through penance
and prayer, devoting herself to the poor. She knew in her heart the Pope belonged in Rome, the seat of
Christianity. Therefore, she made a pilgrimage to Avignon in Southern France to persuade the Pontiff
Pope Gregory XI to return from exile to Rome where he belonged. Heeding the advice of this simple nun,
he did as she requested for he knew intuitively that it was God's Will for God had sent Catherine as a light
in the darkness during this dark time in Church history. Dissension followed Gregory's decision to return
and those who followed their own will tried to elect a false pope and keep him in Avignon, but again
Catherine intervened and lovingly, wisely counseled those in power to accept Gregory as the true pope
and desist from promoting anyone else. They, too, understood this was God's Will and they obeyed, lifting
all barriers and allowing Gregory to return the papacy to Rome. Both Gregory and his successor Pope
Urban VI asked her counsel often, knowing it was of the Holy Spirit. Catherine died at the same age as Christ, 33 years old, receiving not only Jesus' Heart but His wounds as well as she was bestowed with
the stigmata. The world mourned this great saint in 1380 for she had touched and brought many nations
and princes back to the true faith through her simple, but firm faith. She also prophecied the schisms that
would come in the following centuries. In 1970, Pope Paul VI officially proclaimed her a Doctor of the Church.

SUNDAY, April 30, 2000

The Second Sunday of Easter is also DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY. For more on this and the person who today will become Saint Faustina Kowalska, see APOSTLE OF DIVINE MERCY

Though his feast is superseded by the Second Sunday of Easter, April 30th is the traditional feast of Pope Saint Pius V. Below is his profile:

Saint Pius V, Pope and Religious

A Dominican who followed in the tradition of St. Catherine of Siena nearly two centuries later was
Cardinal Michael Ghislieri who went on to become the great Pope Saint Pius V. Another of the great saints who God rose up in the "Century of Saints," Pius V was one of the most influential in Church history as he brought about renewal in the Church, carrying out many of the reforms that would reinstate the holiness
and status of Holy Mother Church. Amidst the ruin of the Protestant Reformation, the corruption within the
Church, and the threat of Turkish invasion, Pius carried out the teachings of the Council of Trent which
had begun in 1545. The fruits of Trent are still evident today for Pius ordered the founding of seminaries
for the training of priests, published a new Missal, Breviary, Catechism and initiated the Confraternity of
Christian Doctrine (CCD) for the youth to learn the faith. In addition, he established the Tridentine Mass
which he proclaimed would be said "in perpetuity." His devotion to the Rosary and spreading the power of
Our Lady's special weapon, proved victorious when he summoned all Catholics to throw themselves
upon the Mercy of God and pray the Holy Rosary in begging God to save the Church from the Turks. On
October 7, 1571 against unsurmountable odds, the Christian forces were miraculously victorious over the
Turks in the Gulf of Lepanto off of Greece. The tremendous power of the Rosary was made manifest and
that date became the official feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Pius died in 1572.

SAINT JOSEPH THE WORKER, PATRON OF THE CHURCH

So much has been said about this very special, holy, pure and quiet saint...and yet, so little is really
known about Saint Joseph. No one can pinpoint the exact year he died, but we do know he died a happy, peaceful death richly deserved because of his obedience to the Will of God in being the earthly guardian
of God's Own Son and the Immaculate Mother He chose to fulfill the Act of Redemption. Saint Joseph is
the saint most often invoked for the grace of a happy death and the assurance that Jesus is spiritually
present at that time with every dying soul. While Mary was the heart of the Holy Family, Joseph was the
head, yet always submitting to a higher Power in all things...from accepting Mary's virgin birth as truly from
God to rallying the family in the cold of the night to flee from Herod's wrath into a land he knew nothing
about, only that God would not abandon him nor those he was charged to watch over. Every virtue can be
attributed to this saint who bridged the Old Law, born into the royal family of David's lineage, and the New Law and guided to maturity Jesus Christ, our Savior. Because of his role in protecting the Holy Family he has been designated Protector of Holy Mother Church as well. He is the patron saint of workers for he
lifted the work ethics to a new level and taught these values to the Son of God.